Endorsement:

Dr. Raquel Ramsey, English Learning Coordinator, Beverly Hills High School:

“David has a special gift in communicating with students.  He demonstrates an ability to engage them in thought-provoking discussion creating an interest and desire to learn.  It is rewarding to watch as my students’ enhanced abilities allow them to effectively communicate complex ideas and thoughts on a higher level than they had previously.  Dr. Tedford, assistant principal of Beverly Hills High School, and I feel that David has the soul and all the qualities of a terrific teacher: patience, concern, ability to communicate the lesson and determination to succeed.”

About David:

David Reynaldo is the director of College Zoom.  He has personally guided hundreds of students and under David’s leadership College Zoom received two awards from the University of Southern California, achieved a 100% success rate in helping students gain acceptance to the nation’s top 100 universities, and became the first private college counseling business in America to receive development funding from a major research university (USC).

In 2011, Beverly Hills High School invited David to become the co-instructor of an elective class on how to write winning personal statements.  David has been invited to speak at numerous educational institutions throughout southern California on the topics of college preparation and entrepreneurial thinking; including Malibu High School, Beverly Hills High School, Santa Monica High School, the University of Southern California, Loyola Marymount University, California State University Fullerton, and more.  Also, in 2011, he became a recipient of the USC Marshall School of Business Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies’ Distinguished Speaker honor, and he received the honor for a second time in 2012.

College Flashback:

At College Zoom, it’s not enough for our team members to have attended a respected university; every one of our team members must have modeled the real achievement that we inspire our students to aspire to and emulate in college.

As a college student, David was nominated for USC’s 2010 Marcia Israel Most Outstanding Student of the Year Award.  He also received a Marshall School of Business Award nomination for Most Valuable Board Member of a Student Organization.  David represented USC in a Target Corporation case study competition (featuring seven other southern California universities) where he was a winning team member and scholarship recipient.  His particular recommendation was the only one from the competition that was forwarded to Target’s corporate headquarters. For a class, David wrote a business feasibility analysis that was used as a teaching example by the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies (ranked 5th in the nation) for undergraduate and graduate school classes.  David graduated from USC with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and concentration in entrepreneurial studies in 2010. Shortly after graduation, David was contracted by a USC professor to assist with executive-level consulting and strategy for middle-market companies.

About Alexandra:

Alex Corvin holds a UCLA Extension: College Counseling Certificate and she is also a member of the Western Association of College Admission Counseling (WACAC) and California Association of School Counselors (CASC). She learned the ins-and-outs of the selection process as a former admissions counselor in UCLA’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions and helps students navigate the admissions process and identify the best colleges for them. She has a vast knowledge of colleges all throughout the country, especially on the east coast, including their various application processes, which she gained through her college counseling association involvement, professional studies, and personal research.

College Flashback:

At College Zoom, it’s not enough for our team members to have attended a respected university; every one of our team members must have modeled the real achievement that we inspire our students to aspire to and emulate in college.

Alex originally began her counseling career as a peer mediator at age eleven. Not long after, she began teaching workshops on communications skills through Conciliation Forums of Oakland and led training on the process of mediation to students in her community.  Alex graduated from UCLA as a dean’s honor list student with a major in psychology and minor in educational studies in 2010. Throughout college, Alex served as a counselor and coordinator for counselors in training at Four Winds Westward Ho Camp where she taught, mentored, and developed curriculum for high school juniors and seniors. She was an officer in Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and served as a social psychology research assistant. As a graduate student at the University of Southern California, she pursued a masters in education in school counseling with a pupil personnel services credential.

Endorsement:

“My interview went great – better than I could have imagined! I really impressed my admissions office interviewer, and he said that I was asking all the right questions. It was really easy and comfortable, like a conversation, and we laughed and made jokes. I’m really happy about how well it went! I can’t say thank you enough!”

— Alex U., USC Class of 2015 applicant

About Sean:

Sean Bandawat is a co-founder of College Zoom and adjunct advisor. He helps students prepare for admissions office interviews.  He has conducted over 150 professional student interviews and prepares students for admissions office interviews through mock interview practice.  Sean is the president of Jacob Bromwell, Inc., America’s oldest kitchenwares manufacturer, in addition to being the founder of RateMyFraternity.com.

College Flashback:

At College Zoom, it’s not enough for our team members to have attended a respected university; every one of our team members must have modeled the real achievement that we inspire our students to aspire to and emulate in college.

As a USC student, Sean became the first student in USC Marshall’s history to receive a Marshall School of Business Lifetime Achievement Award as a junior. He also won the Most Outstanding President of a Student Organization award for his term as the president of the USC Phi Chapter of Delta Sigma Pi. During his term, the chapter won its second consecutive setof national awards for most outstanding professional activities and alumni relations. Sean also independently raised $10,000 in gifts and donations for Delta Sigma Pi from corporate sponsors. Later, as Delta Sigma Pi’s Vice President of Alumni Relations, he created the first annual Delta Sigma Pi Southern California Alumni Mixer. The event attracted over 500 Deltasigalumni and collegiate members from 13 chapters and helped Phi Chapter winits third national award for most outstanding alumni relations. In Sean’s last position before graduating, he was a co-Vice President of Professional Activities.  His flagship pr ofessional event featured celebrity efficiency guru Tim Ferriss, and attracted over 500 attendees. For his achievements, Sean was named Delta Sigma Pi’s Collegian of the Year for the South Pacific Region.

Outside of Delta Sigma Pi, Sean and other members of the fraternity assumed leadership positions in GLOBUS, a USC Marshall student organization for global business leadership. As president of GLOBUS, Sean organized a social-benefit event that featured Oscar Award-winning actress Natalie Portman, attracted over 2,000 people, and set a Marshall School of Business attendance record for a student organized event. In his last semester before graduating, Sean was one of a small number of students admitted to USC’s exclusive Art and Adventure of Leadership class, co-taught by USC President Emeritus Steven Sample and Pulitzer prize nominated leadership guru Warren Bennis. In 2010, Sean graduated from USC with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and concentration in entrepreneurial studies.

Felice Hartenstein is a Certified MBTI Practitioner and is also trained in behavioral and temperament styles. She has over five years of experience with these tools and uses them in her work with College Zoom. Working with College Zoom, Felice helps students identify job tasks and job environments that help them recognize career paths that compliment their personality type.

Felice has over 16 years of prior experience in health care with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Kaiser Permanente.

About Cody:

Cody Silva is an adjunct advisor for College Zoom who helps students identify their major and build their college list. As an exceptional regional communiteam director for iBELIEVE, Cody was selected to participate in a small team tasked with developing a new and engaging youth outreach program for empowering young leaders to make a difference in the world. He also received official letters of commendation issued by the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of the State of Hawaii for his work on education policy as an intern for both offices.

College Flashback:

At College Zoom, it’s not enough for our team members to have attended a respected university; every one of our team members must have modeled the real achievement that we inspire our students to aspire to and emulate in college.

Cody was a stand-out student at Loyola Marymount University with a host of distinctions, awards, honors, and accolades to attribute to his name.

Cody received LMU’s Alfred Kilp Award for Service and Leadership after leading the effort to write and pass the largest top-to-bottom reform of associated student government in the university’s recent history with the goal of achieving a more effective, efficient and ethical associated student government.

As a member of Delta Sigma Pi, America’s foremost professional business fraternity, Cody was elected to serve as the president of his chapter twice and led the student organization to winning regional, provincial and national awards. The most prominent of the awards included chapter of excellence, most improved chapter and most outstanding chapter.

Cody won a full-tuition scholarship to the LeaderShape Institute, a not-for-profit organization that strives to empower college students to lead with integrity. He also won a myriad of other scholarships from LMU and Delta Sigma Pi for academic excellence and merit-based accomplishments.

In 2011, Cody received Delta Sigma Pi’s highest honor for collegian members by being named the national collegian of the year and was appointed to the fraternity’s national board of directors.

Cody graduated from LMU in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in economics.

About Richard:

Richard is a branding and marketing specialist.  He helps students communicate more compellingly and draws from his sales background to teach students how to engage their audiences and showcase their best qualities.

Professional Accomplishments:

Richard won Club Sports Supervisor of the Year as well as the People’s Choice Award for Employee of the Year for his efforts to improve the Loyola Marymount Club Sports Department at Loyola Marymount University.  Richard also received awards for his performance in sales representative and manager positions at Vector Marketing. After selling $30,000 of product in his first six months, Richard was inducted into Vector Marketing’s exclusive President’s Club.  Once he became a manager, he worked with hundreds of sales representatives, and trained and developed several of the top sales representatives in the state of California.

College Achievements:

At College Zoom, it’s not enough for our team members to have attended a respected university; every one of our team members must have modeled the real achievement that we inspire our students to aspire to and emulate in college.

As a member of LMU’s award-winning chapter of the international business fraternity, Delta Sigma Pi, Richard held three elected positions on the Executive Board.  Richard particularly worked to strengthen the chapter’s alumni network and led the effort to standardize the pledge process, which develops personal and professional growth amongst prospective members of the fraternity. Richard contributed to his chapter receiving regional, provincial and national awards: the most prominent of which included chapter of excellence, most improved chapter and most outstanding chapter.

About Ruth:

Ruth is a senior at the University of Southern California pursuing a degree in Biological Sciences and minoring in Thematic Approaches to Humanities and Society. She plans on attending USC’s School of Pharmacy after graduation and writing fiction. Ruth is involved in USC’s writing-intensive Thematic Option Honors Program, and works as a writing tutor on campus. Ruth is also very passionate about volunteering and is active in USC’s chapter of W.Y.S.E. (Women and Youth Supporting Each Other), where she mentors an 8th grade girl.

Professional Accomplishments:

Ruth has worked as a self-employed writing and biology tutor for the past three years, tutoring students at both the college and high school level. Her goal is not just to improve grades, but for the student to gain a greater mastery of the subject. Since 2005, Ruth has also worked as a tennis coach at the Beka Tennis Academy. On campus, she is a Freshman Engagement Fellow.

College Achievements:

At College Zoom, it’s not enough for our team members to have attended a respected university; every one of our team members must have modeled the real achievement that we inspire our students to aspire to and emulate in college.

Ruth has participated in both the Thematic Option Honors Program, as well as USC’s Freshman Science Honors Program. She has been selected for the Dean’s List each semester at USC, and is a member of the invitation-only honor societies, Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society and Golden Key International Honour Society. She was selected among a group of other honor society students to share her writing at USC’s 13th Annual Thematic Option Research Conference. Ruth also received Honorable Mention for her short story at USC’s 2012 Undergraduate Writers Conference. Ruth is the recipient of several merit scholarships, such as the Town and Gown Scholarship and the Dean Joan Metcalf Schaefer Scholarship, for her commitment to volunteer work and her contributions to USC and the surrounding community.

About Valerie:

Valerie Chu helps students demonstrate character and originality in their writing. Valerie is a junior at the University of Southern California pursuing a degree in Writing for Screen and Television with a minor in Business Law. Currently, she works for both the Business Affairs Office and the Dean’s Office at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.

College Achievements:

At College Zoom, it’s not enough for our team members to have attended a respected university; every one of our team members must have modeled the real achievement that we inspire our students to aspire to and emulate in college.

Valerie has worked with a variety of student programs, most recently, Teach for Los Angeles, a student volunteer organization that tutors local students in both math and reading. Valerie also volunteered for the non-profit organization, Skills for Living, in Houston, Texas where she co-taught a financial, career, and college planning course to high school sophomores. At USC, Valerie is a member of the UNICEF club. She is also on the student panel for Explore USC, a program that allows recently-admitted cinema students to tour the school and ask questions about current students’ experiences.

About Caroline:

Caroline Smith is a Trustee Scholar at the University of Southern California. She is pursuing a dual Bachelor’s-Master’s degree in environmental science. As a second-year student, she out-performed many graduate students in College Zoom’s rigorous interview process, demonstrating a level of judgement and talent that surpasses most graduates with a master’s degree.

Accomplishments:

In high school, where Caroline achieved a class rank of 4 out of 701 students with a GPA of 4.0 unweighted and 4.75 weighted, Caroline founded a chapter of the National English Honor Society (NHS), interned, and lead a dance team of 100 girls. She also a tutored junior high and high school students in English and Math (up to Calculus). In addition, Caroline tutored 2nd grade students and worked closely with their teachers to develop curricula and establish guidelines for improvement.  As a senior, Caroline began hosting college admission and resume seminars once she completed the admissions process and she started a program to deliver meals to a family with a child who was suffering from cancer.

College Achievements:

At College Zoom, it’s not enough for our team members to have attended a respected university; every one of our team members must have modeled the real achievement that we inspire our students to aspire to and emulate in college.

At USC, Caroline has already become an officer in Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and sits on the Student Government University Affairs Committee. She was also accepted into the highly selective PACE program, a distinguished plan that allows students to intern at a corporation during the school day.  In this past year, Caroline worked 10 hours per week at FKP Architects and assisted them in conceptualizing a new development project for the Nemours Childrens Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware.

About Belyn:

Belyn Lai’s first experiences with e-learning can be traced back to her involvement with massive open online courses (MOOCs). She’s been a student of e-learning courses from Stanford University and Berklee College of Music and is currently taking an online course on computer programming via Codecademy.org. She believes that online education provides flexibility and efficiency at more affordable pricing without sacrificing quality.

Belyn graduated from UC Irvine in 2012 with a BA in Public Health Policy and amassed real-world experiences in marketing, leadership, and communications prior to graduating. She previously worked at WOLLÁ, a technology firm specializing in communications. At WOLLÁ, Belyn managed and executed many of the company’s social media marketing campaigns, which increased the company’s website traffic by 132%. Belyn also worked as a consultant for Evergreen Realty and Associates, Inc., the third largest company in Irvine, California. She managed social media accounts and increased and strengthened the communication between the management team and all 900+ realtors/agents within the organization. Belyn further worked for Schwartz MSL, a PR agency that specializes in healthcare, tech, and cleantech. Her accounts included Vocera, United Allergy Services, CollegeNET, and SupperKing. She also assisted with Layer 7 and Macworld.

College Flashback:

At College Zoom, it’s not enough for our team members to have attended a respected university; every one of our team members must have modeled the real achievement that we inspire our students to aspire to and emulate in college.

While a student at UCI, Belyn was heavily involved in student leadership and student organizations. As a member of America’s foremost professional business fraternity, Delta Sigma Pi, the UCI chapter, Belyn served as a two-time Vice President of Professional Activities and won the national award for Most Outstanding Professional Activities. She also led the UCI chapter to winning the national award for Most Outstanding Community Service as the Vice President of Community Service. As a result of her accomplishments, Belyn won a full scholarship to the LeaderShape Institute and was named Delta Sigma Pi’s Regional Collegian of the Year for the Pacific Coast Region. She was also named Most Valuable Collegian by Delta Sigma Pi’s Orange County Alumni Chapter.

Outside of Delta Sigma Pi, Belyn served in many other student organizations from which she received numerous awards and accolades. As a Student Parent Orientation Program staffer, Belyn received the Most Spirited award. As a member of Reaffirming Ethnic Awareness and Community Harmony (R.E.A.C.H.), she was a recipient of the Facilitator Completion award. She received a Leadership Certification from the UCI Social Science Academic Resource Center and won an Excellence in Leadership Award as a Resident Advisor of the Mesa Court residence hall.

Belyn is also a trained pianist. In the 7th Annual U.S. Open Music Competition for Piano, Belyn won 1st Place in the Baroque Music and Romantic Music competitions.

About Jack:

Study Smart Tutors is an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau and provides test preparation services with a 100% satisfaction guarantee, or your money back.

Jack Friedman founded Study Smart Tutors Inc. out of his dorm room at the University of Southern California in 2007. Having personally worked with hundreds of students, Jack understands the psychology behind how students learn and has a passion for helping them achieve their college dreams. Jack is a standardized test partner for College Zoom.

In 2010, Study Smart Tutors’s clients included: the USC Neighborhood Academic Initiative, CLU Upward Bound, CSULB Upward Bound, Los Angeles Southwest College Upward Bound, CSUN Upward Bound, and TELACU Education Foundation Upward Bound.

College Flashback:

At College Zoom, it’s not enough for our team members to have attended a respected university; every one of our team members must have modeled the real achievement that we inspire our students to aspire to and emulate in college.

Before starting Study Smart Tutors Inc. in his dorm room, Jack worked for two national test prep companies where he tutored students from 5th to 12th grades in academic subjects and SAT/ACT prep. Jack founded Study Smart Tutors because he understood that the teaching material he was required to use was ineffective and could be improved to help students raise their scores.

Before Jack graduated Cum Laude from USC, the business plan for Study Smart Tutors Inc. was awarded Top Undergraduate Business Plan by USC’s Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies in May 2010 and won Top Feasibility Plan in May 2009.  Throughout college, Jack juggled his studies with running Study Smart Tutors, and he was nominated for USC’s 2010 Marcia Israel Most Outstanding Student of the Year Award in his senior year.